Top Gear

[penger]

The last race didn't have the tension or intrigue that the old ones did either. =/

[Craig Sawyers]

The last race didn't have the tension or intrigue that the old ones did either. =/

Problem is that they are now paying Clarkson, Hammond and May so much that they have no money left over for big stunts like the Reliant Robin space shuttle launch. Clarkson earned £1m from his general BBC contract and another £819k from Top Gear last year. Add that to the half million plus each that Hammond and May get, for a total salary bill of near enough £3m.

Nothing like Kelsey Grammer's $1.6m per episode of Frasier, but more than enough to cramp they style of a UK motoring show.

[Craig Sawyers]

maybe Top Gear should run advertisements.

Nice idea - but Top Gear is a BBC show, and the BBC have never broadcast advertisements. The Beeb is funded by the Television License Fee (£145 per year), which all TV owners have to pay by law http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/legislation-and-policy-AB9/ . Part of which is what is used to pay Clarkson's wage.

Massive advantage is of course no commercial breaks - just end to end uninterrupted TV.

All other TV channels broadcast in the UK (the many hundreds of them) self fund through advertising or sponsorship.

[Craig Sawyers]

i know, i was being funny. or trying to be.

Doh

[Iron_Dreamer]

Just give me more cheap car challenges, trans-national (if not continental) adventures, and DIY vehicles. Big goofs like the Reliant rocket/car darts/caravan conkers/etc. are amusing enough, but aren't, for me at least, the core of what makes Top Gear so appealing. I don't really care how much money they do or don't make, unless it does get to the point where the show goes to poo. Which it hasn't yet, at least IMO.

[Edwood]

The DIY Vehicle challenges are my favorites.

Like the Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust.

Now it was time to cue the music...

[emelius]

fyi, there's a new Top Gear dvd out called either Soul Cars or Cars with Soul...came free with Top Gear Magazine...

i'm about to put it on...

[emelius]

k...watched it & it was crap...just segments from previous episodes bundled together in lower resolutions...guess i shouldn't have expected much for free...

[Grahame]

Top Gear China?

http://www.finalgear.com/news/2011/03/19/watch-15-minutes-of-top-gear-china/

Sounds like the Chinese for "Stig" is "Stig" (11:38, 11:49)

[emelius]

Tesla sues Top Gear for libel, New Stig unavailable for comment (update: BBC responds):

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/30/tesla-sues-top-gear-for-libel-new-stig-unavailable-for-comment/

interesting...oh & Kimi Raikkonen's going to NASCAR:)...

[catscratch]

What? Top Gear fabricated? No! (insert sarcastic shocked expression here)

Considering TG's apparent pro-British anti-everything else bias (especially anti-American) and penchant for fabricating, well, just about anything, it was only a matter of time. However in the interest of free speech I will side with TG on this. People should know better than to take them seriously. Plus as the article said, it stinks more of a PR move on Tesla's part.

I think the whole Hawk Stratos debacle was far more telling of how TG operates (from what I've gathered, they instructed the Stig to spin the car twice and recover on the timed lap, plus there's a strong possibility that they intentionally sabotaged the car's brakes and generally portrayed it as a bucket of bolts built in a shack when really it wasn't. Of course the difference here is, Hawk was a small-scale manufacturer that got more sales and publicity from TG whereas Tesla may very well have lost money).

To me the current Top Gear is like an old annoying but somehow lovable dog. It shits on your carpet and doesn't remember its own name anymore but somehow you can't get (too) mad at it.

[mypasswordis]

I'll get back at it by shitting on its carpet.

[pomme de terre]

Yay, new season of Fifth Gear is back. Should keep me occupied until TG is back on

[emelius]

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=21291

bbc's gonna win this case...

[emelius]

http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/lewis-hamilton-nascar-tony-stewart-f1-2011-06-15

neat...

also, Top Gear returns on the 26th...

[Grahame]

[padam]

1st episode was a good start.

[n_maher]

So looking forward to this.

[Voltron]

I'm watching Top Gear dubbed in German right now. Weird.

[NightWoundsTime]

Do they correctly interpret that hateful sound that May makes when he says "The Germans". Oh wait, it's German, it all sounds hateful.

New episode was good. Not much more to say about it.

[revolink24]

The E Type/XK-E does still look fantastic though.

[Edwood]

LOL, loved the Marauder's McDonalds drive thru ordering.

Is it just me, or they showed clips for this one last year for Here's what's coming up in the series?

-Ed

[NightWoundsTime]

Just checked, series 16 doesn't seem to have a "coming up" segment. Maybe you saw a trailer online (or one of Grahame's above, if your attention span is that short )

[Grahame]

Suitably glorious photography on the latest challenge.

[catscratch]

Both episodes were pretty solid so far.

I've driven in Lucca before, and with a bigger car than what they had. It's kinda confusing, but not as bad as they make it seem. Gorgeous city though, pretty much a fully functioning medieval/renaissance era town.